Too noisy for life

BY UZMA ALEEM

Shahid Awan, a former van driver who now works as a daily wages worker in a factory, bears scolds and abuses of his contractor for not fulfilling all the given tasks because of his partial deafness. The problem of hearing impairment gradually occurred because of his old occupation as the accumulated exposure to traffic noise led to partial deafness.
The case of Shahid Awan is not the only case of hearing impairment. Since noise pollution does not only affect hearing rather it causes mental fatigue, cardiac arrest, restlessness and frustration, while raising anger, anxiety, blood pressure that ultimately reduces people’s morale, motivation and judgment. Moreover noise pollution also retards student learning ability and concentration.
During the past thirty years, noise in all areas, especially in urban areas, has been increasing rapidly. In Pakistan, there is no proper implementation of laws regarding noise emanating from vehicle horns, railway engines, air crafts, airport or industrial and construction activities.
Though public complaints on noise pollution are often received in the federal and provincial environmental protection agencies, yet they have rarely taken any legal action.
It is pertinent to note that road traffic noise is most widespread source of noise nuisance in the urban areas of Pakistan. The situation is getting alarming with increase in traffic density on city roads, particularly in Lahore.
Environmental Protection Agency of Pakistan exercises its power under clause (d) of Section 6(1) of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1983 with the approval of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council established National Environmental Quality Standards, for motor vehicle exhaust and noise.
Pakistan NEQS for motor vehicle noise allows the maximum permissible noise emission limit of 85 dB for new vehicles at a distance of 7.5 metres from the source without specifying the type of motor vehicle and measuring technique.
Most of the areas of Lahore and other major cities are subjected to unacceptable noise conditions due to construction, manufacturing, traffic and recreational activities. But unfortunately, no national survey has been conducted to assess noise level in cities. However, random tests in different cities showed that the noise level in most of areas was as high as 70-90 dB which was much higher that the acceptable limits. The major source of this increasing noise pollution on roads is unnecessary and uncivilized usage of horn.
Taufeeq Ahmad, a retail and wholesale dealer of Horns, told S+ various types of Horns were available in market. But around six major kinds of horns were most sold i.e. Single stage horn, double level horn (commonly known as double pressure horn), little speaker horn, Multiple stages/circuits horn, broad band horn, high performance electronic horn. “Broad band horns and high performance electronic horns are being import from China. Three tones are available in the electronic horn range and almost forty ranges in the high-performance horns are available to better differentiate from ambient noise. Step less volume control via potentiometer is used in electronic horns instead of mechanical screw to accommodate fluctuating ambient noise. However people do not prefer these horns because of their expensive rates and lack of shrill in their sounds. Whereas the multiple stages horns and double level horns are mostly liked by drivers of vehicles of public transport like motorcycle rickshaws, buses, vans and coasters etc”, he added.
Though high pressure horns are banned yet some of the private vans’ drivers also prefer horns with little speakers. So on the demand of consumers, sale of these types of horns is highest.
While talking about the latest technological horns, Tabeer Mustafa, a former engineer of Railways of Pakistan said that a very interesting technology was the “Broad Band” horn, developed in England for the Noise Abatement Society there, and tried out in 2003, very successfully - it could not spread out as much as Chinese and Pakistani horns - these were considered much less disturbing to neighbours. Some US rail lines had apparently bolted plates onto the horns to get the same effect.
However in Pakistan noise pollution is on a rapid increase because of lack of road sense and irresponsible behaviour of masses and government towards noise pollution. Although the Motor Vehicle Rules, 1969 (Section 154, 155 and 158) guarantees the absence of noise pollution through following clauses:
• No motor vehicle shall be fitted with and multilinked horn giving a succession of different note or with any other sound producing device giving an unduly harsh, shrill , loud or alarming noise on other similar vehicles of such sound signals.
• Every motor vehicle shall be fitted with a device (therein after referred to as a silencer) which by means of an expansion chamber or otherwise reduce as far as may be reasonable and practicable the noise that would otherwise be made by the escape of exhaust gases from the engine.
• Every motor vehicle shall be so constructed and maintained as not to cause undue noise when in motion.
According to environmental protection department of Punjab, government of Punjab constituted a committee to address the issue of use of pressure horns. A number of meetings had been held in the past and more than 80 percent illegal horns were removed from intra city route buses of Lahore.
Awareness raising campaigns regarding noise pollution were also initiated like Blue area in Islamabad and Jail road in Lahore had been declared as silence zones (no horn blowing allowed). Despite these efforts of government any significant change in the environment of metropolis could not be observed. Lack of commitment of government and indifferent approach of masses made the situation worse. The level of noise has exceeded the maximum limit in most of the areas of Lahore. As Naseem Ahmad of EPA told the city was being hit by the worst levels of noise pollution. “Around 55 decibels in residential areas and 75 decibel levels in commercial areas should be mandated to reduce noise pollution,” said the Assistant director EPA
“Whereas we recorded 73 to 91 decibels at Shadman Chowk, 90 at Circular Road, 85 at Kalma Chowk, 98 at Azadi Chowk, 93 at General Post Office Chowk and 91 to 100 decibels at Railway Station,” he explained.
Medical survey reports and studies also reflect impact of noise pollution on public health. According to a cross-sectional and descriptive study of ENT Department, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore, several commuters and drivers of public transport drivers are exposed to excess noise on roads in Lahore and most of them are suffering from noise induced hearing loss.
This report stated that 65 percent of the people including drivers had noise induced hearing loss. (NIHL) 25 percent had normal hearing threshold and 10 percent had disabling hearing loss in Lahore.
There is no doubt that there is excess noise on roads in all major cities in Pakistan but the situation has become worse in Lahore with more than 3 million vehicles running on roads. According to ISO standard noise levels on roads should not exceed 70 dB. In Lahore, the noise limit on roads laid down by National Environment Quality Standards is 85-90 dB with in the radius of 7.5 meters. Also the Motor Vehicle Rules 1969: Section 158 states that every motor shall be so constructed and maintained as not to cause noise when in motion. But the fact is other wise and noise levels on roads average around 90 dB. This excessive noise on roads in Lahore city has resulted in hearing loss (from mild to acute level) in 75 percent of the commuters. “This NIHL will continue if corrective action is not taken. More over NIHL is progressive if noise pollution is not controlled and this hearing loss is irreversible. What damage has been done cannot be corrected, only prevention is the treatment of NIHL”, Dr. Shahzad Mirza explained.
“Hearing loss is not only one of the hazards of noise. Prolonged or excessive exposure to noise, whether in community or at work place, can cause permanent medical conditions as hypertension and ischemic heart disease. Noise can adversely affect performance, attentiveness, and memory. On roads or in industry these deficits in performance can lead to accidents. Noise above 80 dB may increase aggressive behaviour, and can result in changes in social behaviour. The main social consequence of hearing impairment is the inability to understand speech in normal conditions, which is considered severe social handicap,” he added.
While talking about the preventions he told noise control measures could be in the form of various type of engineering, personal protection, and administrative approaches. Most important was awareness among community about the health hazards of noise pollution. Moreover the government should ensure smooth traffic flows to minimise noise pollution since horns are mostly used in traffic jams.


Random tests in different cities showed that the noise level in most of areas was as high as 70-90 dB which was much higher that the acceptable limits. The major source of this increasing noise pollution on roads is unnecessary usage of horn.


Around 55 decibels in residential areas and 75 decibel levels in commercial areas should be mandated to reduce noise pollution. 73 to 91 decibels at Shadman Chowk, 90 at Circular Road, 85 at Kalma Chowk, 98 at Azadi Chowk, 93 at General Post Office Chowk and 91 to 100 decibels at Railway Station have been recorded.

VAT: Towards economy’s documentation or chaos

Retail sector in Pakistan has always refused to come into the tax net despite government offers of lucrative minimum tax schemes launched in the past. Now Value Added Tax would be implemented from July 1, 2010 but FBR’s clarifications about the proposed VAT regime have failed to build the trust of stakeholders, reports UZMA ALEEM

The International Monetary Fund had deferred, earlier, for an indefinite period of the disbursement of the fifth, US$1.2 billion, instalment of funds to be paid to Pakistan under their $11.3 billion standby agreement. This came after the government failed to meet the condition of tabling draft value-added tax legislation in the four provincial assemblies. Now the IMF has given May 3, 2010, as a tentative date for the approval of the fifth tranche after seeking assurances on VAT implementation from July 1 by government of Pakistan. The IMF was pushing Pakistan to levy the tax to increase tax-to-GDP ratio, the lowest in the South Asia.
The Fund has already twice postponed the executive board’s meeting scheduled earlier to be held last month after Pakistan could not meet the pre-condition of tabling value-added tax in provincial assemblies.
Pakistan agreed with the IMF in November 2009 to impose VAT from July 1 this year. The new tax would help the government to raise an additional 150 billion rupees (US$1.9 billion) in revenue. Local traders and businessmen see inherent flaws in the VAT Act. While a certain section of economists favour this regime of taxation as they see it an important step in economic development through the documentation of economy.
“Though the VAT regime is a much simple trader and customer friendly system of taxation but all the same it is very noble too for the people. It is therefore, yet natural that the trading community in particular and the consumers in general feel unrest about this new tax regime,” Riffat Saqlain, an economist was of the view.
While explaining the phenomenon of VAT she said that each commodity had to pass through several stages of production and distribution. “Value at the final stage is the sum of value created/added at each of these stages. Under VAT value added at each stage of production and distribution is taxed. VAT is essentially a multi-point system of taxation. Thus value added is the difference between a dealer’s Sales and Purchases. Moreover VAT is immensely popular throughout the world. VAT system is presently in operation in more than 135 Countries and covers nearly 85 percent of the World’s population. Even it is operational in the neighbouring countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and China” she elucidated.
“Actually only dealers above the taxable limit have a tax liability under VAT. VAT is consumer friendly, because of the mechanism of Input Tax Credit where the dealer gets a set-off for the taxes paid earlier within the State, such taxes are not treated as part of the cost thus there is no cascading i.e. Tax on Tax. This ensures that the price of commodities does not increase under VAT,” she added.
Much of Pakistan’s economy is not documented, encouraging the parallel economy to thrive. Pakistan’s parallel economy, or untaxed illegal money, is estimated at $83 billion, or half the country’s entire GDP of $166 billion. The problem has become so big it threatens public welfare plans
In addition, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Sohail Ahmed also stressed the need to clarify that the VAT would replace the general sales tax (GST) and it would not be an additional tax. The VAT would replace 16 percent GST with the lower rate of 15 percent. The higher rates of sales tax like 21 percent or 19 percent etc would be considerably reduced to 15 percent.
He strongly dispelled the impression that the FBR was not fully prepared to implement a broad-based integrated VAT. The factual position is that the FBR, being a revenue collection agency, has finalised all arrangements for the implementation of VAT. It depends on the successful negotiations of the Ministry of Finance with the provincial governments for implementation of the federal and provincial VAT Bill 2010. However, if even one province disagrees with the VAT law, it cannot be implemented in an integrated form as drafted by the FBR.
However, the existing constitutional and legal framework allows the provinces to empower the FBR to collect sales tax on services. Responding to a query, he said that the taxpayers should deal with a single tax collecting agency for payment of taxes. In case the taxpayer has to confront two to three federal and provincial revenue-collecting agencies, it would not be acceptable to the business units.
About the attitude of the retailers, he said that the retail sector has always refused to come into the tax net despite offering lucrative minimum tax schemes to them. “We will never force the small retailers to obtain registration under the VAT law. Only big retailers having annual turnover of Rs 7.5 million would be liable to registration. The registration threshold of Rs 7.5 million clearly reflects that big businessmen and retail outlets would be liable to register excluding small shopkeepers and retailers. The small business units would be automatically excluded from the VAT regime due to higher registration threshold,” he clarified.
He said that retailers would prefer to come under the documented regime of VAT to avail the facility of input tax adjustment. They would voluntarily obtain VAT registration to make purchases from the registered units. Ahmed was confident that the VAT would not have any major inflationary impact on consumer goods from the next fiscal.
It is a total misconception that the prices of commodities and goods would suddenly jump following imposition of lower rate of 15 percent VAT from 2010-2011. The VAT is a modern and progressive way of taxation on consumption stage. When highest rates of sales tax would be brought down, it would definitely raise prices of the commodities.
“The introduction of 15 percent VAT at consumption level would not escalate inflation, but instead it would encourage voluntary compliance at consumption and retail levels, besides benefiting the economy of the country,” he remarked.
While Main Muhammad Haroon, Lahore chamber of commerce industry’s executive committee member, said that the imposition of VAT would immediately drive up inflation. “Earlier the central bank forecasts that consumer price index (CPI) inflation for the fiscal year ending on June 30 will be close to 12%, up from a low of 8.9% in October 2009 after price increases for electricity tariffs, petroleum products and commodities. In the last fiscal year, the average inflation was 20.5%. The CPI has risen 36.3% since the present coalition government came into power in 2008, with the prices of wheat flour surging 83% and of sugar 168%. The increase in prices of essential items has continued despite regular government promises to contain the trend and punish hoarders and profiteers.
However FBR chairman further clarified that every taxpayer had to deposit his share of tax at the stage of value addition. The registered taxpayers would have the facility of the input tax adjustment and they would pay 15 percent VAT at their stage of value addition. The 15 percent VAT would be paid on the profit earned by a business entity operating under VAT regime. It will result in broadening of the tax base by bringing the entire chain into the VAT net. The biggest advantage of the VAT is the facility of input tax adjustment available to the registered persons under the VAT. It would encourage documentation, as adjustment would not be available to those purchasing from unregistered sellers. In the long run it is a big step towards documentation, as burden of taxes would be shared by the entire supply chain starting from manufacturing sector up to the retail stage.
As far as sales tax on services is concerned, the FBR chairman said that it is the right of the provinces under the National Finance Commission (NFC). Under the NFC Award, the collection of taxes on services is the right of the provinces and FBR being a technically tax collecting agency with expertise at federal level can collect VAT on services also only after the approval from the concerned province
Despite all the clarifications of FBR and government officials, most of the economists and traders do have their apprehensions on the said regime of VAT.
Akmal Hussain, renowned Economist, said that the proposed VAT would increase inflation, erode consumers’ purchasing power and dampen demand. Local business communities have strongly opposed the imposition of VAT, saying it will harm every sector of the economy. However, the rupee “will come under pressure if the IMF money is delayed for more than a month”,
Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, President of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government to put off the implementation of Value Added Tax until and unless a consensus is developed among all the stakeholders including all the chambers and trade bodies in the country. He said that there were number of points in the proposed VAT law that need to be amended and in the existing shape it is bound to open floodgates of corruption besides discouraging any new investment.
The LCCI president said that abolition of zero-rating facility available to five export-oriented sectors and reverting back to refund regime is beyond the understanding of the business community as it will open the way of corrupt practices to obtain flying invoices and seriously impede cash flow of the companies.
“The definition of tax fraud has been extended to cover tax evasion. The provision would be massively abused by tax officials. Similarly, vast powers are proposed to be given to tax officials to determine open market value of goods at their whims,” president of LCCI explained.
He was of the view that the section 87 of proposed VAT law was against all norms of justice as it denies a tax payer of his basic right of justice. He further stressed that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry would not accept the proposed VAT law in its present shape as it has been designed to promote the culture of flying invoices and other prevalent mal practices due to which the law abiding tax payers were suffering a lot and were even paying the taxes of those buyers/sellers who were not paying due taxes and making money.
The methodology to introduce an integrated VAT may have serious implications during implementation of a broad-based VAT from next fiscal year as the government has not taken into confidence the stakeholders. He suggested that each and every trade body including LCCI should be consulted and their views be obtained whether this new proposed draft of the VAT is in conformity with the law of the land or whether it would suit the stakeholders or not. He requested the authorities concerned that unless and until all the trade bodies and stakeholders agree on the enforcement of VAT Act 2010 it should not be implemented.
The LCCI President recommended to restore exemption from Audit on Payment of advance value added tax at import stage; reduction in record keeping period from six years to three years; curtailing discretionary unlimited powers given to the officials for recovery of amount; adjustment of input tax; retention of carry forward facility, streamlining the process of cancellation and suspension of registration; right to go in legal court of law against the tax official decision etc.
He said that any haste in the enforcement of VAT Act will prove to be counter productive to the trade and industry due to its harsh and irritant measures.

Glued down to hell

Drug addiction is increasing among children. Child labourers and runaway kids in streets are becoming addict to glue in the urban sprawls of Pakistan, reports UZMA ALEEM

During the mid night hours in a run-down part of downtown Lahore, Muddassar and some boys squat in a dirty alley, getting high on glue. Breathing in fumes from glue-soaked rags and glue-filled plastic bags is a daily ritual for these boys who live rough on the streets of Pakistan’s second largest city.
“The fumes burn the eyes and leave the body dry. It kills your appetite. But after being kicked and treated like a dog it gives you peace,” said Muddassar, who is not an exceptional case as this story as in every major city of Pakistan many kids are seen living on roads and streets.
They can be seen near the garbage cans looking for cigarettes butts to smoke, food to eat, sitting under the broken bridges to get protection from the sun or on the brinks of the gutters, in the ruins, under the trees of graveyards and in the verandas of bus stops. Moreover, they can be seen on almost every major road, every busy traffic junction — begging, washing cars, selling flowers, roaming idly, being chased and harassed by policemen and bullied by petty criminals and thugs. These are the children of the street.
“The term “street children” was introduced in 1980s to refer to the children who live or spend a significant amount of time in the streets of urban areas to fend for themselves or their families through various occupations. This also denotes children who are inadequately protected, supervised or cared for by responsible adults,” a sociologist Sara Hammad explained.
Most of them are between seven to 15 years old while some of them are barely six or seven-year-old. They earn, eat, sleep, and live on the streets. The traffic choked roads are their playgrounds and footpaths their homes. The world is giving lessons to them about life, relationships and the society in the hardest possible way.
In fact the plight and suffering of the street children of Pakistan is hardly news now. Tragic stories float around unnoticed in every major city — be it Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar or Rawalpindi-Islamabad.
Though there is no reliable data available about the exact number of these children who live on the streets. The number of this population is increasing as homeless children’s ranks continue to swell. Save the Children, a non governmental organisation, has estimated that over 50,000 children live on the streets of Pakistan. In Karachi alone, the number of street children is estimated to be around 25,000 while, in Lahore more than 5,000 children live on streets.
“It is pertinent to note that these street children do not include the ones involved in manual labour with the consent of their parents. The children who are into labour under the supervision of parents are certainly better off. At least they are more protected. But those who live on the streets are among the lowest of the low and the most vulnerable to drugs abuse”, Hammad elucidated.
Some limited surveys and interviews conducted by various non-government organisations and by scribe herself show that an alarming 90 to 95 per cent of the street children are drug addicts. The most popular and affordable of the drug is a type of glue — used mostly in home repair and maintenance — which these children inhale by putting it on a piece of cloth.
Iqbal Dethu, National Manager Child rights in SPARC, said that the menace of drugs was increasing rapidly among the youth especially street children of all the major cities of Pakistan. The number of young drug addicts was highest in Karachi, while Lahore and Peshawar were followed by Quetta respectively.
“The cost of glue tin is Rs 50. It easier to get than illegal drugs in Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and Peshawar. According to a research, 90 percent of street children are involved in glue sniffing or in some other solvent abuse. If more is not done soon, Pakistan is heading for a grave crisis on the scale of other countries like Morocco and Brazil,” said Iqbal Dethu.
A vast majority of the children who end up on the roads are driven away from their homes because of domestic violence, corporal punishment, abuse, and poverty. They are usually members of divided or single-parent families. In some cases, simply bad company, the desire of unrestricted freedom, and the pull of the hustle and bustle of cities, prompt them to leave homes in rural areas and low-income localities of our cities, especially from southern Punjab and parts of North West Frontier Province.
It has been reported in a research report of an NGO Sahil that 56 percent of street children run away from their homes due to domestic violence, 22 percent because of hostile behaviour of their parents and 12 percent due to their parents’ drug addiction.
Some of the street children did not do any work. When asked that how they met their expenses? They told “Through begging we get money and food”. Others were doing small jobs like polishing shoes, washing cars, cleaning restaurants, selling cheap commodity items like artificial jewellery, toys and eyewear. Many of these kids are involved in pick pocketing and mobile phone snatching.
According to a report of Sahil, 53 percent were earning less than Rs.50 a day and 26 percent were getting less than Rs.100 a day. Actually lack of income in the home pushed these children on the streets. Statistics recorded during a research showed that the household income of these street children remained Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 4,000, which pushed them to leave home.
The household incomes gave a glimpse of their socio-economic status, and were cited as a major reason for their being on the streets. There were 61 children (34 percent) who belonged to families where there was no bread winner at all. Either the father was dead or an addicted doing nothing to support a large family consisting of 8 to 10 family members. In some of these cases, mothers were earning meagre amounts by doing house hold chores for others, providing domestic services, begging or living on alms. 11 percent children were from households with monthly incomes below Rs.2000, and 19 percent children belonged to the families where father’s monthly income was less the Rs.3,000. The fact that there were 18 percent children who came from households whose income was in the Rs. 4,000 category leads to the next concern of whether there is addiction in the family which has influenced the child.
Statistics show 80 percent of the children had a family history of addiction. Mostly fathers and elder brothers were using drugs like hashish, heroine and cocaine. Few children said that their mothers were smoking, drinking and using other drugs such as heroine.
All the children knew the harmful and serious effects of drug abuse. So there are great chances that someone introduces street children. When S+ probed about it and asked from some of the street children, they replied that they indulged in drugs due to the influence of their friends and peers.
Moreover talking about the increasing usage of drugs among youths Iqbal Dethu, national manager child rights SPARC said that most of the street children were introduced to drugs by the drug sellers. Although most of the family members may not have given the children access to drugs, it is evident that the environment was conducive to the availability of drugs.
Khadija Najmi, clinical child psychologist of Children Hospital Lahore, said that street children used some unbelievable chemical based solvents like glue, pilla and petrol along cigarettes, herion, naswar, alcohol, drug coated supari, and opium drink. “Some children use more than one drug. The most used drugs are also the most easily available and inexpensive. Since alcohol is a ‘prohibited’ item it is not consumed in large quantities. Pilla is a term used for any new combination of these drugs,” she elucidated.
There is an immediate need to control this growing menace among children. Though some non-governmental organisations are working at limited scale to highlight this grave issue yet serious structural changes at government level are required to combat this menace. Federal law does not deal exclusively and separately with street and neglected children.
While explaining the constitutional provisions regarding street children in Pakistan Rashid Aziz, legal advisor of Society for the Protection of rights of children said that there was no provision in the constitution of Pakistan regarding street children or destitute kids. Though the provincial laws of Punjab and Sindh provided protection to street children and destitute youth yet on partial basis, as Punjab destitute and neglected children Act 2004 and Sindh Children Act 1955 could be practically implemented to protect street children. “The emphasis of provincial law of Punjab remains on beggars and their rehabilitation while the major chunk of destitute remained unaddressed. There is need to broaden the horizon of this Act and proper implementation of law to secure the future of ours, indeed children,” Aziz was of the view.
Poor human development, especially among women and children, because of poverty, social disparities, has pushed back Pakistan in Human Development Index (HDI) rating as Pakistan ranks 136 out of 177 countries with an HDI of 0.551.
Moreover increase in population of drug addicts especially children addicts is also a contributing factor in low HDI ranking. In Pakistan, population of drugs addicts is 3 million and 1.8 million out of them are children (under 18 years). Easy availability of drugs in down turn areas of Lahore and other cities, cheap narcotics substance, high number of immigrants or refugees are the pushing factors for drugs addiction among children.
National Child Protection Policy was prepared in consultation with stakeholders and submitted to the Cabinet for approval. The approval was expected next month after which the Bills would be presented before the Parliament. Proposed national child protection policy sent to the cabinet then it was reversed for some revision without outlining the objection. “Now hoping that within few days it would again go to the cabinet then to the floor of parliament. Because Child Protection Bill would be a ray of hope for many children including these drugs addicted street children and it would eventually brighten our future. By promulgating the Child Protection (Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, a child friendly and protective environment will be created. The perpetrators will be brought to justice under various sections inserted in the Pakistan Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure,” Aziz told.
Iqbal Dethu told S+ Child Protection Bill would provide justice to street children as these children were not only vulnerable rather they were used as narco-drug mules (transporting agents to supply drugs). “When these children caught by police selling narcotics substance, police file the case in court under Articles 12 & 13 r/w Control of Narcotic Substances Act (XXV of 1997) as section 9 C of the said Act prohibits the transportation and use of drugs. Then trails and environment of jail instead of rehabilitating them worsen their lives and make them criminals. So we need proper implementation of juvenile justice system in Pakistan. Along laws, structural and organizational changes are also need of the hour. Government should evolve a separate ministry for children, as 48.3 percent population of Pakistan is of children (people under 18 years), to address the issues of youth for the betterment of country’s future,” said Dethu.
Young people may see drug use as a solution to their problems, rather then as a problem in itself. Even though using drugs may lead to serious problems, many children and youth still use drugs because it either adds something to their lives or helps them to feel that they have solved their problems however fleeting this feeling might be. It is evident that children on the streets have major problems within their families. Drug addiction, lack of education, and poverty are significant factors common to all the street children.
Health, food, and lack of shelter, lack of resources, harmful effects of drugs, rejection from the family and poverty all contribute to the existence of these children on the streets.
These problems can and must be solved. Firstly, it is necessary to address and eradicate the causes of these problems. There is a need to provide a range of support services including laws and infrastructure which will protect children.
Raising awareness on this issue is imperative for changing attitudes in the society. Of course, this is not an over night possibility. A continuous effort has to be made to ensure that the communities at large are fully cognizant of this menace and crime against children.
There must be consistent political will and commitment to the welfare of children to achieve these goals. The idea of separate ministry for child welfare can be implemented.
The most important step is to help the children in their present situations. A safe shelter is required to provide them the haven that is needed for a happy and healthy outlook on life.
The provision for education and the learning of a vocational skill must de provided to ensure that their lives are in their control.
There is a dire need to develop some strategies to prevent children from suffering, from drug abuse and often untimely deaths. Government should take immediate actions for their rehabilitation by establishing support systems. Drop in centres with all health facilities should be available for them. Educational and vocational amenities should be provided to them. Civil society and the families of these children should be involved in the remedial process for the children.

This investigative feature was published on April 18, 2010 in S+ of Daily The Nation.